UltraTech Cement Ltd, an Aditya Birla Group Company, has announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2017. Net sales stood at INR68,400m (US$1.051bn) as compared to INR57,080m in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Profit before interest, depreciation and tax was INR15,500m higher by 13 per cent than the INR13,780m in the corresponding period of the previous year. Increased depreciation and higher interest cost relating to the acquired cement plants resulted in profit after tax at INR4230m as compared to INR6140m in 2QFY17. This quarter continued to witness increasing cost trends, attributable to increase in fuel prices, the company said.

Following the completion of the recent acquisition of Jaypee Cement, UltraTech's production capacity increased 21.2Mta to 93Mta. This acquisition will enhance the company’s footprint into high growth markets of central India, Himachal Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and coastal Andhra Pradesh, where the company has been focussing to increase its presence.

In this the first quarter of post-acquisition operations, the company has injected the much-needed working capital. Initial one-time expenses were undertaken to improve plant efficiency and maintenance a the newly-acquired plants to help stabilised and improve the quality of cement  produced at these locations, in line with company standards. In addition, new dealers were appointed to increase market penetration The company also completed a successful transition of the acquired cement plants to the ‘UltraTech’ brand.

The acquisition was completed with the onset of monsoons and acute shortage of sand in most of the markets, which impacted performance. Regardless, the operations of the acquired assets have been EBITDA accretive.